


To Hold and to Never Let Go

by NR_red



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Brexit, Canon Compliant, Human & Country Names Used, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, USUK - Freeform, Yes you read that right - BREXIT
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-29
Updated: 2016-06-29
Packaged: 2018-07-19 00:48:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7337863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NR_red/pseuds/NR_red
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Brexit nearly drives Arthur mad and America just wants to help him. </p>
<p>(I know you Hetalians imagine about it at some point)</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Hold and to Never Let Go

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my first language, so please forgive me for any grammatical or spelling mistakes.

It had been only a couple of days after Brexit, but Arthur found it almost too much already. His phone rang all the time-- from his boss, his brothers, Ludwig, Ivan, Antonio, Yao, Kiku, Matthew, and basically the rest of existing European nations. They either gave him angry statement or said how much they were disappointed by the referendum results, not to mention those hundreds or more calls from Francis and Feliciano about how soon they wanted him to trigger that fucking Article 50!

 

_Arthur solemnly swore that Francis could be more clingy and irritating than the clingiest and most irritating girlfriend on earth..._

 

That’s why when America happened to call him at the godly hour after midnight, Arthur went into complete rage.

“What are you gonna say now you git!!!?? Cutting your relation with me? Stop investing in my house? Moving capital out of my house? Just what the fucking fuck do you want from me!!!??” Arthur shouted and literally felt blood rushed to his face. He clenched his hand on the smartphone so hard that his knuckles turned white and his breath came fast like an angry bull.

America, who was on the other side of the line, gulped audibly and began speaking with an unusually quiet voice.

_“Ugh… I just call to see if you’re okay…”_

“Of course I’ve never felt so amazingly fine like this since 1985, thank you for asking" Arthur sighed and threw himself into the red armchair next to a huge window on the top floor of his house. Outside, London was gleaming in the night like how it had always been. Sometimes Arthur couldn’t quite understand why things looked so normal from afar like this, when actually deep down, it was shaking the entire foundation of him.

_“Then… maybe I shouldn’t bother you anymore….”_ America said meekly, which kind of brought England back to his sense.

“No please...I… I’m sorry America," England groaned. His voice was obviously exhausted. He rubbed his temple and took a deep breath. It almost surprised him how shaky his breath was and how hard his body was trembling. Gradually, England felt his anger slowly dissolved within him.

“It’s just…it’s just I had too many phone calls with France and… you know… the thing about that Article 50 and… yeah…” the Brit tried to explain but later gave up and assumed the American would have known everything by now. The thought of explaining every detail of the situation here was dreadful to him. In fact, the mere thought about it already exhausted him greatly.

Luckily, America did really know everything, and England was grateful for it.

_“Yeah.. it kinda angered me too when I heard them saying something like that to you. They should have had some more respect, like, seriously”_

“I would never have expected to hear words like that from you, lad” England chuckled softly. He covered his eyes with his one hand, and let his thought drifted away from reality for a moment.

_“Come on! I’m a grown man now! Just who do you think I am!?”_

Both of them laughed but then quickly fell into silence.

 

Thousands of miles away, across the Atlantic ocean, America buried himself in a comfy sofa at his house in DC. On the table were a glass of cola and a pile of sweets, which according to England, merely its smell could cause diabetes. Overall, everything seemed fine and comfortable for America, but his mind was not at ease at all. He could hear the Brit’s heavy breath coming faintly from the speaker of his phone along with a small shaking inside that voice.

“Are you crying?” America asked in a straight-forward manner. It took a couple of minutes before England answered.

_“No… no I’m not”_

England never stuttered unless he was lying or was totally embarrassed. America knew that and felt terrible about it.

“Okay… just asking” He shrugged. If that’s what England wanted him to believe, he would believe it. He didn’t want to press on England now, so he would just pretend like he couldn’t hear those sobs that were softly sneaking through the line.

America sat still in silence for a moment, because he knew Arthur wanted it even though he did not say it. A moment he could take off his mask and cried like every normal human-being on earth - that’s what Arthur wanted.

He felt his heart clenched tight in his chest… his other hand formed into a fist… and every Arthur’s sob was like a knife piercing through him.

_If only… if only…_

America’s mind was full with them. Those infinite _“if onlys”_ that kept spring up in his head…

But because they were merely a desperate cry for some impossibility… America did not pay it any mind, except to accept its existence.

He took in a deep breath and decided to said something… something that could actually helped or at least alleviated the Brit’s pain.

“It’s okay… I’m here with you” He said it out, calmly, firmly.

_“...”_

“Maybe I could not do much as the United States of America, but as Alfred F. Jones, I will never ever leave your side, Arthur Kirkland”

_“...”_ Arthur did not answer but his sob now became clearly audible and it’s a torture for Alfred

“Arthur if I were with you now… if I were with you…” the American closed his eyes and tried hard not to scream out himself. “I would hold your hands tight in my hands, and I would remind you that I will never ever let you go, Arthur, and you will never be alone”

Arthur was fully weeping as Alfred could hear. He did hope some miracle or any magical thing would happen and take him to Arthur now at this moment. He hated it. He hated when he could only hear Arthur crying but couldn’t do anything to help him at all.

Arthur wept for another longer moment before managed to reply shakily between a sob _“Thank you… thank you so much... Alfred”_

Alfred smiled a little…

At least Arthur could hear it… at least he knew it that someone was still on his side…

“It’s nothing. For better and for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, remember?” Alfred chuckled, reciting those vows he said to Arthur in that wooden church they randomly found during their trip in Idaho many years ago.

There was no priest, there was no witness, there was no friends or family. It’s just them in the orange evening light that shone through the colourful window of the church. Alfred took Arthur’s hands in his and said the vows like a groom on his wedding day. The ring he put on the delicate finger of Arthur was simply a key chain he happened to have in his pocket at that time, and even though there’s no formal announcement by the priest, or the cheering of family, or the sound of the church organ; they still kissed. The best kiss Alfred ever had in his life. Their hands intertwined, their breath mixed together until it became one, and suddenly the world was theirs and theirs only. There’s no the United States of America or the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, there were only Alfred F. Jones and Arthur Kirkland, and they knew they would have each other forever.

 

_“Yes I do remember, Alfred”_ Arthur’s voice was lightened up a bit and Alfred somehow could tell that Arthur was also smiling on the other side of the ocean. _“Thank you so much…."_

 

_"...for holding me and never let me go”_

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first published work in English, so.... yep....I'm terribly nervous to publish this. 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy about this ;) I have spent pretty much of my time reading news about Brexit lately even though there's nothing to do with my country at all (mostly because my head keeps imagining Arthur in the situation), and hopefully it's not a very bad idea to write fanfiction about it. 
> 
> The Article 50 I mentioned above is the article in Treaty of Lisbon that concerns about when a country wants to leave the EU. If the UK triggers this article, it will mean they will have 2 years to negotiate about their withdrawal deal with the rest of the EU, and now the EU wants the UK to trigger it as soon as possible (but David Cameron said he will let his successor conduct the talk and he himself will step down in October, so...not too much pressure on our Artie..)
> 
> Thank you again for everyone that came to read this fic ;) I'll try to publish more works in English.


End file.
